U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,867,700 and 4,859,204 disclose terminals which are crimped onto a flat power cable by penetrating the insulation covering the cable's flat conductor and also shearing through the conductor at a plurality of locations. The cable is of the type entering commercial use for transmitting electrical power of for example 75 amperes nominal, and includes a flat conductor one inch wide and about 0.020 inches thick with an extruded insulated coating of about 0.004 to 0.008 inches thick over each surface with the cable having a total thickness averaging about 0.034 inches. One embodiment of terminal is stamped and formed of sheet metal and includes a pair of opposing plate sections disposed along respective major surfaces of the cable and including opposing termination regions extending transversely across the cable. Each terminating region includes a transverse array of alternating shearing wave shapes and relief recesses of equal width, the relief recesses defined by arcuate projections extending away from the cable-proximate side, and the wave shapes extending outwardly from the cable-proximate side and toward relief recesses in the opposed plate section. Each shearing wave shape has a transverse crest between parallel side edges, and the side edges of the corresponding relief recesses are associated with the wave side edges to comprise pairs of shearing edges, preferably with zero clearance. When the plate sections are pressed against a cable section disposed therebetween the crests of the wave shapes initiate cable shearing by their axially oriented side edges cutting through the cable insulation and into and through the metal conductor. The wave shapes extrude the sheared cable strips outwardly into the opposing relief recesses as the shears propagate axially along the cable for limited distances, forming a series of interlocking wave joints with the cable while exposing newly sheared edges of the cable conductor for electrical connection therewith.
Further with regard to the terminal of the above patents, fastened to the outwardly facing surface of the plate sections at the terminating regions are respective inserts of low resistance copper. The inserts have terminal-facing surfaces conforming closely to the shaped outer surface of the terminating region, with alternating wave shapes and apertures disposed outwardly of and along the terminal wave shapes and relief recesses. Upon termination the wave joints are within the insert apertures, and the sheared edges of the adjacent conductor strips and of the terminal wave shapes which formed the sheared strips are adjacent to side surfaces of the copper insert apertures. A two-step staking process is preferred: in a first step the wave joints are split axially so that portions of each arcuate shape of both terminal plate sections are forced inwardly against the adjacent sheared conductor strip of the respective wave joint to define spring fingers whose ends pin the conductor strip against the opposing wave crest to store energy in the joint; and in the second step a staking process deforms the insert between the sheared strips to deform the copper against the sheared conductor and wave shape edges, forming gas-tight, heat and vibration resistant electrical connections with the cable conductor and with the terminal, so that the inserts are electrically in series at a plurality of locations between the conductor and the terminal.
A contact section is integrally included on the terminal enabling mating with corresponding contact means of an electrical connector, or a bus bar, or a power supply terminal, for example, and can include a plurality of contact sections to distribute the power to a corresponding plurality of contact means if desired. A housing or other dielectric covering can be placed around the termination as desired, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,900,264 and 4,921,442.
Also entering commercial acceptance is a dual-conductor flat cable, wherein a pair of parallel spaced coplanar flat conductor strips having insulation extruded therearound define power and return paths for electrical power transmission. One method has been devised for terminating an end of such dual-conductor cable, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,650, where the cable end is first slotted between the respective conductors, to define tabs insertable into slots at the rearward end of the initially integral terminal, after which the plate sections of the terminal are thereagainst, defining the wave joint termination, after which the terminal is bisected into discrete terminals associated with the respective conductors and electrically isolated from each other. U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,264 discloses a connector, terminals and method for interconnecting a pair of flat power cables together, such as to terminate an end of a tap cable along a continuous length of main cable. For dual-conductor cable a pair of terminal assemblies are used, each interconnecting one conductor of each cable to the associated conductor of the other cable aligned therewith and superposed thereover, by opposing terminal portions each containing a terminating region of shearing wave shapes on one half thereof opposing a like region of the other being crimped against the cables and thereafter staked, with the opposing terminal portions of each terminal assembly being riveted together at flange portions laterally beside the cables on each side.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,081 a pair of upper and lower terminal portions is crimped against superposed dual-conductor cables on each side of the cable at a selected location along a continuous portion of at least one of the cables, for interconnecting a conductor of one with the associated conductor of the other; after interconnection of both such conductor pairs with respective terminal assemblies, a common housing is secured thereover. In one embodiment, the upper portions of both terminal assemblies are initially integral as are the lower portions of both, joined by respective ligature pairs at the median of the cable between the conductors; after termination the ligatures are removed by tooling to define discrete terminations, with a wall of the dielectric housing providing necessary insulation therebetween by extending between the terminal assemblies and through a slot through the cable median also formed by the tooling.
It is desired to provide a terminal for interconnecting a pair of flat power cables at a location along a continuous length of at least one of the cables, where the cables each include two flat conductors defining separate power circuits, and where the interconnections remain gas-tight and heat and vibration resistant over time.
It is also desired to provide an initially integral terminal assembly which can interconnect both conductors of each of two dual-conductor flat power cables, to facilitate handling and application.
It is further desired to provide a terminal assembly for connecting a flat power cable at a location along a continuous length thereof and define a contact section extending from the termination for mating with a complementary contact section for another electrical article such as a terminal post of a power supply or to terminals of wires or other conductor means.
It is additionally desired to provide an initially integral terminal assembly which can be terminated at a middle portion of a dual-conductor flat power cable and provide discrete contact sections for mating with respective complementary contact sections of separate circuits, to facilitate terminal handling and application.